TTL compatible input buffer

ABSTRACT

This invention discloses a TTL compatible input buffer which includes means for preventing appreciable current flow into the buffer circuit upon input voltage being supplied to the input signal lead which is substantially above the voltages supplied to the voltage supply terminals of the circuit.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to electronic systems, and more particularly, toelectronic systems which are with advantage implemented in compoundsemiconductor technology, such as gallium arsenide technology.

2. Description of the Prior Art

The advantage of the high speed of operation of a circuit implemented incompound semiconductor technology (for example gallium arsenidetechnology), as compared to silicon technology, is well known. In thecontinuing effort to increase operating speed of integrated circuits andthe systems incorporating them, various approaches have been tried insuch technology with relatively limited levels of success and/or seriouslimitations on usability.

Heretofore, the main thrust has been to attempt to provide circuitsimplemented in gallium arsenide which are to be operatively coupled withother circuits implemented in that technology. That is, there has untilnow been no serious effort toward providing circuits implemented in"fast" gallium arsenide technology which can be operatively coupled with"slow" silicon-based integrated circuits, such as TTL, CMOS (includingadvanced CMOS technology), NMOS, Schottky and low powered Schottky(including advanced Schottky technology), all of which will be referredto as "standard logic" herein.

In the event that gallium arsenide-based integrated circuits could becoupled with such standard logic circuits, this would enable one to gainspeed in a system based on standard logic by replacing a standard logicsilicon-based part with a gallium arsenide based part. In doing so,appropriate input buffer circuits and output buffer circuits,implemented in gallium arsenide technology and coupled in the samepackage with gallium arsenide based internal logic and/or memory, wouldbe of great advantage. Such input and output buffer circuits would allowone to use standard device packaging, standard testing procedures andequipment, standard input/output levels from and to the standard logicdevices operatively connected with the gallium arsenide based integratedcircuit, and standard power supplies.

Typical prior art approaches to input buffers for implementation ingallium arsenide technology using MESFETS are shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.However, both such prior art circuits include numerous disadvantages.

For example, referring to FIG. 1, two separate external power suppliesare needed (V_(cc), positive, and V_(ss), negative). These supplies mustsink significant current if the buffer is to attain reasonably highspeed. Because of this, it is very difficult to use an on-chip chargepump to generate a negative supply for such a chip that has asignificant number of inputs, without a large waste in die area andpower. This results in a distinct disadvantage for a customer usingstandard logic since a negative supply must be externally added to thesystem.

Both the circuits of FIGS. 1 and 2 use a source follower input device(transistors 20, 20a) whose drain is tied to the positive voltage supplyV_(cc) (for example +5 volts). Because of this, the gate to drain diodeof transistor 20 or 20a clamps the input to a diode drop level above thevoltage level V_(cc) and an input signal that was raised more than adiode drop level above the V_(cc) level would begin sinking largecurrents into the voltage source V_(cc). Standard logic families do notexhibit this characteristic and a system that does exhibit thischaracteristic could well be perceived as undesirable. Furthermore, thetransistor 20 or 20a could well be damaged if excessive current werepassed through its gate, which could well happen in a realistic systemapplication under a variety of conditions. The net result could be chipfailure, perhaps in the field, which results in a tremendousdisadvantage to both the chip user and the system user, due to the costof locating and repairing the failure as well as loss of credibilityconcerning device reliability.

The approach of FIG. 1 further compounds the problems recited in thepreceding paragraph, due to the input path to ground created by thetransistor 20's gate-source diode, the diodes 22, 24, 26, and transistor28's gate-source diode. This condition is in general less desirable thanthat described in the preceding paragraph since five diodes above ground(approximately 4 volts) is in general lower than one diode above voltagesource V_(cc) (approximately 5.8 volts). This makes the reliabilityproblems mentioned above more likely to occur in any general system andleads to problems when the input signal is expected to interface withCMOS style outputs which attempt to pull up to voltage level V_(cc).

The approach of FIG. 2 results in an input signal threshold which isstrongly dependent on negative power supply voltage V_(ss). As a result,V_(ss) must be tightly regulated to avoid input signal thresholdvariations. Since most traditional implementations of standard logic donot have input signal thresholds strongly dependent on any supplyvoltage, this could be perceived as a significant disadvantage to auser.

The input signal clamping effects of the two prior art circuits make itdifficult to offer high ESD specifications for these input signals sincethey tend to draw high current at low voltage. It is difficult to createa protection device for the input signal that will turn on before thepath from input terminal to V_(cc) or ground turns on and does damageunder a static discharge condition.

These input signal clamping effects also make it difficult or impossibleto use high voltage logic on the device pins. Since the use of highvoltage logic requires that input signals be capable of being raised tolevels well above supply voltage V_(cc) and ground (approximately 10-12volts above ground) to access special test features or even customerused features, such clamping effects prevent the prior art circuits frombeing used in these sorts of applications.

In regard to an output buffer circuit for use in the environmentdescribed and implementable with advantage in gallium arsenidetechnology, a general discussion first follows.

Output buffer circuits which may be used to implement three-statefunctionality are well known in the prior art. The symbol for an activelow three-state buffer is shown in FIG. 3. Referring thereto, active lowthree-state buffer 30 receives a low enable input signal E atenable-disable terminal 32, and a data input signal J at input terminal34. In response to the data and enable signals, buffer 30 provides anoutput signal Z at output terminal 36. When the active low three-stateoutput buffer is disabled by application of a high enable signal E (i.e.logical 1), the output terminal 36 is in a high impedance state, and iseffectively disconnected from both ground and positive voltage supplyV_(cc) connected to buffer 30. Conversely, when buffer 30 is enabled bya low enable signal E (i.e. logical 0), the output signal Z at terminal36 is determined by the data input signal J applied to the terminal 34.Thus, with buffer 30 enabled, and a logical 0 data input signal Japplied to buffer 30, buffer 30 will provide a logical 0 output signalZ. Conversely, with buffer 30 enabled and a logical 1 input signal Japplied to buffer 30, buffer 30 will provide a logical 1 output signalZ.

The active high three-state output buffer operates in a similar manner,except that it is enabled by a high enable signal E, and disabled by alow enable signal E.

Various prior art approaches for implementing CMOS/TTL compatible outputbuffer circuits are shown in FIGS. 4-6. While each of these circuits iscapable of implementation in gallium arsenide technology, no means areprovided in any of these approaches to generate a standard three-statecondition, as described above. As the advantages of three-state devicesare well known, this is a severe disadvantage.

Furthermore, each of these approaches requires two separate externalpower supplies in addition to ground, one supplying a positive voltageand another supplying a negative voltage. As pointed out above, theinclusion of such a negative supply voltage is a distinct disadvantagefor a user of standard logic. In addition, in these approaches, similarto the description of prior art input buffers, a significant currentmust be sourced into the negative supply in order to achieve high speed.This precludes the use of an on-chip charge pump to generate thenegative supply internally without a large waste of power and die area.

In regard to the circuits shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, these circuits usedepletion mode pullup devices connected directly to the output. Theoutput lead sinks current to the positive voltage supply if the outputsignal is pulled up slightly above the level of the voltage supply. Thisis not characteristic of standard logic devices.

As the circuits of FIGS. 4 and 5 use depletion mode pullup devices,these devices must have current through them while the output signal isin the low state. Since these devices must be large if the output signalis to meet the standard logic output current specifications, suchcurrent in the low state will be large and will result in anunacceptable waste of power.

In addition, in the prior art circuits of FIGS. 4 and 6, these circuitsrequire input signal levels which are below ground, further aggravatingthe problem mentioned above in regard to additional negative voltagesupply.

In regard to the prior art logic gate/buffer circuits of FIGS. 7-11,each of these circuits includes significant drawbacks in design andfunctioning thereof.

In the circuit shown in FIG. 7 two voltage supplies are required, withsignificant current flowing into the second supply V_(ss). Furthermore,such a circuit requires high power for high speed operation.

In regard to the circuit of FIG. 8, such a circuit overcomes the problemof the need for two power supplies, but this circuit has a very poornoise margin, low fan out capability, and is very intolerant ofprocessing, supply voltage, and temperature variations.

Regarding the circuit of FIG. 9, such circuit has a higher fan outcapability than the circuit of FIG. 8, but also has a very poor noisemargin and is also very intolerant of variations in processing, supplyvoltage, and temperature.

The circuit of FIG. 10 again has the disadvantage of requiring twovoltage supplies, and further involves large signal swings due to theuse of depletion mode devices. Furthermore, the capacitor of thatcircuit must be large enough to drive the on-chip capacitive load, whichresults in a larger die area than desired.

As shown in the FIG. 11, this circuit requires only a single voltagesupply, but has the problem that the output pullup device never quiteturns off, and the output pulldown device is a depletion device whichcomes out of saturation sooner than desired and reduces currentavailable to pull the output signal low, and furthermore conducts morecurrent than desired when the output signal is high for a given lowcurrent.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the teachings of this invention, an input levershifter circuit is included herein, having a shifter input signal leadfor receiving an input signal, a shifter output signal lead forproviding an output signal, a first voltage supply terminal, and asecond voltage supply terminal. The circuit includes first and secondtransistors, the first transistor having a first current handlingterminal connected to the first voltage supply terminal, a controlterminal, and a second current handling terminal. The second transistorhas a first current handling terminal connected to the second currenthandling terminal of the first transistor, a control terminal, and asecond current handling terminal connected to the second voltage supplyterminal. The shifter output signal lead is connected to the firstcurrent handling terminal of the second transistor. The shifter inputsignal lead is connected to the control terminal of the first transistorthrough a diode reverse biased in the direction of the input signal fromthe shifter input signal lead to the control terminal of the firsttransistor. Load means are connected to the first voltage supplyterminal and the control terminal of the first transistor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings:

FIGS. 1-11 are schematic views of prior art circuits as described above;

FIG. 12 is a general functional view of circuitry employing one or moreof the present inventions;

FIG. 13 is a schematic view of the present input buffer circuit;

FIG. 14 is a series of load devices which may be used in the presentcircuits;

FIG. 15 is a functional view of the circuit of FIG. 13;

FIG. 16 shows a variation of the circuit of FIG. 13;

FIG. 17 shows yet another variation of the circuit of FIG. 13;

FIG. 18 is a schematic view of the present capacitor coupled pushpullcircuit;

FIG. 19 is a schematic view of the present output buffer circuit;

FIG. 20 is a functional view of the present oscillator circuit andSchmitt trigger circuit;

FIG. 21 is a schematic view of the circuit of FIG. 20; and

FIG. 22 is a drawing of wave forms of the Schmitt trigger circuit ofFIGS. 20 and 21.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Shown in FIG. 12 is an overall system 40 which incorporates one or moreof the various inventions herein. The system 40 includes one or moreinput buffer circuits 42, one or more output buffer circuits 44, and aninternal logic and/or memory circuit 46, all of which are implemented ingallium arsenide technology and all of which are operatively connected.These circuits are each connected to a positive voltage supply V_(cc)and to ground. The input buffer circuit communicates with an integratedcircuit system 48 which uses standard logic, and the output buffercircuit also communicates with an integrated circuit system 49 alsousing standard logic.

The internal logic and/or memory circuit 46 may take a wide variety offorms, as long as it is compatible with signals from the input buffercircuits 42, and as long as the output signals therefrom are compatiblewith the output buffer circuits 44.

The input buffer circuit 42 will now be described in detail.

Referring to FIG. 13, the input buffer circuit 42 includes an inputsignal level shifter stage 50 and a buffer stage 52. As part of theinput signal level shifter stage, a positive voltage supply V_(cc), inthis case +5 volts, connects to a load device 54 which may take the formof any of those shown in FIG. 14, which is a partial list of usable loaddevices. In this case, the load device 54 takes the configuration of anN-channel depletion type field effect transistor 56 having its drainconnected to a voltage supply terminal 57 which connects to positivevoltage supply V_(cc), and its gate connected to its source, through aresistor 58 if desired (in the case of each field effect transistor onesource/drain region may for purposes of terminology be considered afirst current-handling terminal, the other source/drain region may beconsidered a second current-handling terminal, and the gate may beconsidered a control terminal). The source of the transistor 56 isconnected to load devices 60, 62 and diode 64 in series, the diode 64being connected to the input terminal 66, and being reverse biased inthe direction of the input signal to the buffer circuit 42. The sourceof the transistor 56 is also connected to the gate of N-channelenhancement type field effect transistor 68. The drain of thattransistor 68 is also connected to the voltage supply terminal 57, whilethe source thereof is connected through two diodes 70, 72 to the drainof another N-channel enhancement type field effect transistor 74, thesource of which is connected to a second voltage supply terminal 76,which is a ground voltage supply terminal.

The diodes 70, 72 are forward biased in the direction from the firstvoltage supply terminal 57 to the second voltage supply terminal 76.

The buffer stage 52 of the circuit 42 includes another load device 78connected to the voltage supply terminal 57, and an N-channelenhancement type field effect transistor 80 having its drain connectedto the load device 78 and its source connected to terminal 76 through adiode 82 forward biased in the direction from terminal 57 to terminal76.

Another N-channel enhancement type field effect transistor 84 has itsdrain connected to the voltage supply terminal 57 and its sourceconnected to the drain of another N-channel enhancement type fieldeffect transistor 86. This transistor 86 has its drain connected to thesource of transistor 84 and its source connected to both the gate oftransistor 74 and the source of transistor 80, and the drain oftransistor 74 is connected to the gates of both transistors 80, 86. Theoutput terminal 88 is connected between the source and drain ofrespective transistors 84, 86.

The load devices 60, 62 provide voltage drops from the voltage supplyterminal to the diode 64, which itself provides a further standard diodevoltage drop (approximately 0.7 volts). With the input signal atterminal 66 low, this determines a certain voltage level (low) at nodeA. When the input signal is taken high, the voltage drops describedabove result in node A being taken to a higher voltage level thanprevious (logic level high). Thus, the input signal level shifter 50shifts the voltage level applied to the gate of the transistor 68, butis directly responsive to the input signal at terminal 66, providing alogic level high input signal at the gate of the transistor 68 inresponse to an input signal level high, and a low input signal to thegate of transistor 68 in response to an input signal level low.

Assuming a high input signal level to the gate of transistor 68, thispulls the node B high, turning the transistors 80 and 86 on. This bringsthe node C low, which provides that the transistor 84 is off. The outputterminal 88 communicates with ground terminal 76 through transistor 86and diode 82. Thus, in this situation, the output signal from thecircuit 42 is low.

Conversely, a low input signal to the transistor 68 from the input levelshifter stage 50 reduces the current from transistor 68 allowingtransistor 74 to pull node B toward ground and below the level of nodeD. This insures that transistors 80 and 86 turn off even for a widevariety of temperature and processing variations on their thresholds.Consequently, the signal at output terminal 88 will be pulled high bythe action of transistors 78 and 84.

A load device in the form of a transistor may be included at 90 to actas an optional pullup for the pedestal diode 82 in order to keep itforward biased (which insures that transistor 74 always remains on andacts a load device).

It will be seen that the present circuit does not require a negativevoltage supply, which eliminates the drawbacks mentioned above. Thediode 64 is included to prevent current from flowing into the buffercircuit 42, either to ground terminal 76 or to terminal 57, except underbreakdown conditions, which means that the circuit 42 can be designed totolerate input voltages as high as 20 volts above ground (or voltagessubstantially below ground) without sinking large or damaging currents.This eliminates the problems in relation to the prior art describedabove. The present invention also generates an input buffer signal withan input threshold based on two diode drops (70, 72) as do many standardlogic families. Because of this, the input threshold is not stronglydependent on any power supply voltage and can be made to stay withinstandard logic limits under standard logic supply variations (5volts±0.5 volts) which further eliminates problems described above.

The novel input level shifter stage 50 can be coupled to a variety ofbuffer stages to create an overall input buffer circuit configured asdesired.

Note that diode 64 does not have to be a diode but can by any blockingdevice with a diode-like characteristic (reverse drop significantlyhigher than forward voltage drop).

FIG. 15 illustrates a general implementation of the invention. The inputsignal level shifter stage consists in general of a blocking element D1,level shifters LS₁ and LS₂, sources of current I₁ and I₂, and a bufferstage 52 having an input threshold of V_(Ib). The elements D₁, LS₁, I₁,LS₂, and I₂ are chosen so that V_(Ib) +V_(LS).sbsb.2 -V_(LS).sbsb.1 -φ(diode drop of diode D₁)=the desired input threshold level. In thepreferred embodiment of FIG. 13, LS₁ consists of transistors 60, 62, LS₂consists of transistor 68 and diodes 70, 72, I₁ consists of transistor56 and resistor 58, and I₂ consists of transistor 74. The buffer stage52 consists of diode 82, and transistors 78, 80, 84, 86.

A wide variety of input buffers with a wide variety of input thresholdscan be accommodated by adjusting LS₁ and LS₂. FIG. 16 demonstrates aperturbation of the buffer stage in this manner. The addition of diode92 to the buffer stage causes its input threshold to be 2φ (diode dropsof diodes 82, 92)+V_(gs) instead of φ (diode drop diode 82)+V_(gs). Thisis easily accommodated by eliminating diode 72 in the input levelshifter stage 50 as described in FIG. 16.

FIG. 17 shows a second preferred embodiment of the input buffer circuitusing a modified FET logic buffer stage. This circuit includes anadditional diode 94 between the source of transistor 84a and the drainof transistor 86a, the diode 94 being forward biased the direction fromvoltage supply terminal 57a to voltage supply terminal 76a. The outputterminal 88a is connected between the diode 94 and the drain oftransistor 86a.

In both FIGS. 13 and 17, the transistor 56, 56a in conjunction withoptional resistor 58, 58a sets up a current that defined the currentthrough diodes 64, 64a, transistor 60, 60a, and transistor 62, 62a whenthe input voltage is at, around, or below the threshold. Resistor 58,58a can be used to keep this current within desirable limits if theprocess used does not allow depletion device 56, 56a to have a lowenough current. Transistor 74, 74a is used to set up current throughtransistor 68, 68a, diode 70, 70a and diode 72, 72a. The currents thissets up are adjusted along with the geometry sizes of diodes 64, 64a,transistor 60, 60a transistor 62, 62a, transistor 68, 68a, diodes 70,70a, and diodes 71, 71a to produce the desired level shift voltagedrops. Turning on transistor 74, 74a requires a gate voltage bias (inthis case equal to one diode drop) which is provided by the pedestaldiode 82, 82a in the buffer stage. The pedestal diode must be biased upby a current which can be provided by an optional pullup current source90, 90a or can be the result of sharing the pedestal level among manystages of logic in such a way as to guarantee a constant minimum levelof current into diode 82, 82a. The embodiment of FIG. 13 offers theadvantage of high dynamic drive in both output directions. Theembodiment of FIG. 17 offers output low levels with in a few tenths of avolt above ground without further level shifting due to transistor 86aacting as a load device to ground, and not as a switch transistor. Theuse of the transistor 68, 68a, in both embodiments, as a source followerwith current gain allows high speed operation with reasonably low I_(i1)values even while using buffer stages having fairly high inputcapacitance values. An additional N-channel enhancement type fieldeffect transistor 81 may be included as shown having its drain connectedto the drain of transistor 80a, and its source connected to the sourceof transistor 80a, and another input signal lead 83 connected to itsgate, so as to act as a NOR gate.

Referring now to the output buffer circuit, shown in FIG. 18 is a bufferstage circuit 100 which makes up the basic building block of the circuitof FIG. 19.

As shown therein, the circuit 100 includes three N-channel enhancementmode field effect transistors 102, 104, 106. The transistor 102 has adrain connected to a voltage supply terminal 108 through load device109, a gate, and a source connected through a diode 116 to a secondvoltage supply terminal 110 in the form of a ground terminal. Thetransistor 104 has its drain connected to the first voltage supplyterminal 108, a gate connected to the drain of the transistor 102, and asource. The transistor 106 has its drain connected to the source of thetransistor 104 through a diode 112, the diode 112 being forward biasedin the direction from the source voltage supply terminal 108 to thevoltage of the supply terminal 110. The transistor 106 further has agate, and a source connected to the source of transistor 102. The inputsignal terminal 114 is connected to the gates of both the transistors102, 106. The sources of the transistors 102, 106 are connected toground terminal 110 through a forward biased diode 116. A capacitor 118is included, having a pair of terminals 120, 122, one terminal 120connected to the drain of the transistor 106, and the other terminal 122connected to the output terminal 124. The output terminal 124 is alsoconnected through a load device 126 to a voltage supply terminal, whichin this embodiment may also be ground terminal 110. This load device 126is included as part of the connection between the ground terminal 110and the output terminal 124, and may take any of the forms shown in FIG.14. Connected in parallel with the capacitor 118 between the oneterminal 120 of the capacitor 118 and the output terminal 124 are aplurality of diodes 128 forward biased in the direction from the voltagesupply terminal 108 to the voltage supply terminal 110.

In the operation of the circuit of FIG. 18, the diodes 128 form a levelshifter which can be adjusted for a variety of levels to suit differentapplications. That is, the number (including zero) of such diodes 128may be chosen to suit different needs. With the input signal level highon terminal 114, the transistors 102, 106 turn on, turning transistor104 off, forcing the output signal of the circuit low. The drain of thetransistor 106 sinks current from the load through the capacitor 118.The transistor 106 can be made large to drive large loads withoutincreasing power since transistor 104 shuts off and there is no DCcurrent flow between the transistors 104, 106. The transistor 102 servesto pull the gate of transistor 104 to near ground thereby turningtransistor 104 off. When the input signal level is low, the transistors102, 106 shut off, allowing the load device 109 to pull the gate oftransistor 104 high. This turns transistor 104 on which sources currentto the lead terminal 124 through the capacitor 118 and the level shiftdiodes 128, which pulls the output signal of the circuit high.

The diode 116 is used to raise the input threshold of the cirucit wellabove ground and eliminate the need for a negative supply on thepreceding stage. Similarly, a negative supply is not required on thepresently described stage if the following stage has a high enough inputthreshold (in which case load device 126 is connected to ground as showninstead of a positive or negative voltage supply).

The diode 112 is a power saving diode which can be used when thetransistor 104 has a negative threshold voltage as in a depletion modedevice. It serves to ensure that transistor 104 turns off in the outputlow signal state when the transistor 104 has a negative thresholdvoltage. The diode 112 can also be replaced by a series of diodes if thethreshold voltage of the transistor 104 requires such, and when use ofsuch a diode 112 is not necessary (in the case of the transistor 104having a positive threshold voltage) it is replaced by a short circuit.

The present circuit shown in FIG. 19 uses three stages 150, 152, 154 ofthe type shown in FIG. 18 in series, and another stage 156 of that typewhich receives the three-state input signal, and additional circuitryinterconnecting these stages which will now be described.

The output terminal of the three-state input signal stage 156 connectsto the input terminal of gates of N-channel enhancement mode fieldeffect transistors 158, 160, 162, 164, the source of each suchtransistor being connected to ground terminal 110. The output terminalof the stage 150 connects to the gates of N-channel enhancement modefield effect transistors 166, 168, the drains of which connect to thedrains of transistors 158, 160, respectively. The drains of thetransistor 102, 106 of stage 154 connect to the drains of thetransistors 162, 164, respectively. A load device 165 in the form of anN-channel depletion mode transistor has its drain connected to thevoltage supply terminal 108, and its gate and source connected to thedrain of transistor 166. The drain of transistor 166 is furtherconnected to the gate of a transistor 167. The drain of transistor 167is connected to the voltage supply terminal 108, and its source isconnected to the drain of transistor 168. A diode 182 is connectedbetween the respective drains of transistor 168 and transistor 166 andforward biased in the direction from transistor 168 to transistor 166.The source of transistor 167 further is connected to the gate of anN-channel enhancement type field effect transistor 170, which has itsdrain connected through a resistor 171 to the voltage supply terminal108 and its source connected to the drain of an N-channel enhancementtype transistor 172. The input lead 173 connected to the gate oftransistor 172 is connected to the terminal 122 of capacitor 118. Thattransistor 172 has its source connected to ground terminal 110 and itsdrain connected to the source of transistor 170 through a diode 174forward biased in the direction from the voltage supply terminal 108 tothe ground terminal 110. The output terminal 176 of the overall circuitis connected to the drain of transistor 172.

In the situation where the three-state input signal is high, that signalis inverted through the stage 156, so that a low signal is applied tothe gates of the transistors 158, 160, 162, 164, holding them off. Insuch state, in the case where the input signal to stage 150 is high, theoutput signal from the stage 150 (low) is applied to the following stage152, inverted thereby, applied (high) to the following stage 154 andinverted thereby, and applied (low) to the gate of the transistor 172which turns transistor 172 off. Because transistors 158, 160 are off,the gate of transistor 170 connects to the voltage supply at terminal108 turning transistor 170 on, so that voltage from the voltage supplyterminal 108 is supplied to the output lead 176. Thus, the pair oftransistor 170, 172 acts as an inverter, inverting the output signalfrom stage 154.

Likewise, with the input signal to stage 150 low, that signal travelsthrough the stages 150, 152, 154, being supplied to the gate oftransistor 172 as a high signal and turning transistor 172 on thetransistor 170 off, because transistors 166, 168 are on connecting thegate of transistor 170 to ground. Again, the transistors 170, 172 act asan inverter for the signal taken from the stage 154.

In the event the third state is chosen, the three-state input signal istaken low, inverted by the stage 156, and applied high to the gates oftransistors 158, 160, 162, 164 to turn them on, connecting the gate ofthe transistor 170 with ground, and the drains of the transistors 102,106 with ground, insuring also that the transistor 172 is off. With boththe transistors 170, 172 off, the output lead 176 of the overall circuitassumes a high impedance state consistent with the standard logicthree-state condition. In this state, with both transistors 170, 172off, no current is wasted there through. The diode 174 is present toensure that the transistor 170 shuts off entirely even if the thresholdvoltage is somewhat negative, thus allowing for a wide process andtemperature tolerance. The output signal of the stage 154 is designed todrive the gate of the transistor 172 one diode drop below ground toallow similar tolerance on the threshold voltage of the transistor 172.The state 154 is also designed with two diodes 128 in its level shifterto allow for a smaller capacitance of the capacitor 118 thereof toadequately drive the large gate capacitance of transistor 172.

The diode 180, reverse biased in the direction from the voltage supplyterminal 118 to the ground voltage supply terminal 110, is used toprevent the gate of transistor 172 from going too low and slowing downthe response of the output signal. The diode 182 is used to add extrapulldown drive to the gate of the transistor 170 to speed the responseof the output signal. The stages 150, 156 are designed to accept highinput threshold levels so the circuits generating their input signals donot need to use negative supply voltages. The diode 174, forward biasedin the direction from voltage supply terminal 108 to the ground supplyterminal 110, also allows the output signal to go well above the voltagesupply level without sinking current while in the high states, even whenthe voltage threshold of transistor 170 is negative.

The stages 150, 152, 154, 156 are designed to source only a very smallamount of current to the voltage supply terminals 110' connectedrespectively thereto so that an internal charge pump may be used togenerate a second voltage supply (if needed) on the chip at terminals110' in a practical fashion.

The flexibility of the stage design allows for such design to accept andgenerate a wide range of input and output signal levels which can beused to allow for large noise margins and create circuits that cantolerate wide process and temperature variations.

As can be seen, the use of two separate external power supplies can beavoided. In addition, the present circuit can be readily implemented ingallium arsenide technology.

The buffer circuits as disclosed are compatible with standard logicsignal thereinto and therefrom, and may be part of an overall integratedcircuit device which uses standard packaging, testing and power suppliestraditionally used with standard logic circuits.

The above description of input and output buffer circuits each include asingle positive external power supply, without the need for anadditional, external negative power supply. The following description ismade with reference to FIGS. 18 and 19, and involves an on-chip chargepump for generating a negative voltage in those situations whereprovision of such a negative supply may be considered desirable.

The general layout of the charge pump 200 is shown in FIG. 20. As showntherein, a Schmitt trigger 202 has its output terminal connected to theinput terminal of an inverter 204, the output terminal of which is inturn connected to another inverter 206. The output terminal of thatinverter 206 is in turn connected to the input terminal of anotherinverter 208, the output terminal 210 of which connects through aresistor 212 to the input terminal 214 of the Schmitt trigger 202. Theinput terminal 214 also has connected to it one terminal 216 of acapacitor 218, the other terminal 220 of which is connected to groundterminal 222. The portion of the circuit thus far described makes up theoscillator 221 of the circuit. Diodes 224, 226, 228 are connected inseries, forward biased in the direction from terminal 201 to ground. Asignal is taken from the output terminal of inverter 204, and providedthrough an inverter 230 to one terminal 232 of a capacitor 234. Theother terminal 236 of the capacitor 234 is connected between the diodes226, 228. The output signal of inverter 206 is provided through aninverter 238 to one terminal 240 of another capacitor 242, the otherterminal 244 of which is connected between diodes 224, 226. The outputof the charge pump is taken at terminal 201 from the diode 224, theopposite diode 228 being connected to ground terminal 222. A capacitor246 has one terminal 248 connected to output terminal 201, and the otherterminal 250 connected to ground terminal 222.

The Schmitt trigger 202 is shown in detail in FIG. 21. Such circuitincludes an N-channel enhancement-type field effect transistor 260having its drain connected to the voltage supply terminal 262, and itssource connected to the drain of a load device in the form of anotherN-channel enhancement type field effect transistor 264, having itssource in turn connected to ground terminal 222.

A load device 266 is connected to a voltage supply terminal 262, and thedrain of another N-channel enhancement type field effect transistor 268is connected to the load device 266, the source of the transistor 268being tied to the source of the transistor 260. Another load device 270is connected to the voltage supply terminal 262, and has its secondterminal connected to the gate of an N-channel enhancement type fieldeffect transistor 272. That transistor 272 has its drain connected tothe voltage supply terminal 262 and its source connected to two diodes274, 276 in series, forward biased in the direction from the voltagesupply terminal 262 to ground terminal 222. The source of the transistor272 connects to the gate of transistor 268. An N-channelenhancement-type field effect transistor 278 is included, having itsdrain connected to the voltage supply terminal 262 and its sourceconnected to diode 280 forward biased in the direction from the terminal262 to terminal 222. The drain of transistor 268 connects to the gate oftransistor 278. A load device in the form of an N-channel enhancementtype field effect transistor 282 is included, the diode 280 connectingthe source of transistor 278 with the drain of transistor 282, while thesource of transistor 282 communicates with ground terminal 222. The gateof transistor 282 connects between the diodes 274, 276 and also with thesource of a transistor 284. The drain of transistor 282 connects to thegate of that transistor 284, while the drain of transistor 284 connectsto the source of transistor 272 and the gate of transistor 268.

As will be further described, the voltage level at node K determines thetrigger point of the Schmitt trigger. That is, with transistor 284 offand voltage at node K two diode drops 274, 276 above ground, thiscorresponds to the high trigger point of the Schmitt trigger, while withtransistor 284 conducting, this clamps node K to approximately a singlediode drop 276 above ground.

Assuming that the input signal to the gate of transistor 260 is high,node L is high, which is the gate of transistor 278. The diode 280 pullsup node M, which in turn turns on transistor 284 which pulls node K toits low state, the lower of the two reference levels.

Assuming the input signal to the gate of transistor 260 goes low, node Lwill go low which is the gate of transistor 278. Node M thus goes low,turning off transistor 284, which pulls node K to its high state.Considering for the moment only the Schmitt trigger, the input signalthereto is at the gate of transistor 260, while the output signalthereof is at node M.

The next three stages, i.e., the inverters 204, 206, 208, are shown indetail also in FIG. 16, and as the inverters are identical inconfiguration, only one will be described in detail.

As shown therein, inverter 204 includes a load device 300 connected tovoltage supply terminal 262, the load device 300 being also connected tothe drain of an N-channel enhancement type field effect transistor 302,the output from node M being connected to the gate of transistor 302.The inverter also includes another N-channel enhancement type filedeffect transistor 304 having its source connected to a diode 306 forwardbiased in the direction from the terminal 262 to terminal 222. The diode306 is connected to the drain of another N-channel enhancement typefield effect transistor 308, having its source connected to groundterminal 222. The source of the transistor 302 is connected to the gateof the transistor 308.

The signal provided from node M is inverted by the inverter 204 andprovided at node N, to be input to the next inverter 206 and the nextinverter 208. As described above, the output signal of the inverter 208is provided through a resistor 212 to the input terminal 214 connectedto the gate of transistor 260, that also being connected to one terminal216 of a capacitor 218 while the other terminal 220 of the capacitor 218is connected to ground terminal 222. The output terminal 210 of theinverter 208 is also connected to ground terminal 222 through diodes310, 312, 314, forward biased in the direction from terminal 262 toterminal 222. The inverter 230 takes the same form as that shown in FIG.18, as does the inverter 238. The capacitors of those building blocksare connected to the output circuitry as previously described, and asshown also in FIG. 21.

The signal from the node P will be provided to the node R in a delayedmanner because of the RC circuit defined by the resistor 212 and thecapacitor 218.

The signal at node S is a square wave output whose high level is nearthe voltage supply level and whose low level is near a diode drop aboveground. That will be translated through the capacitor 234 to node Twhose high level can go no higher than a diode drop above ground becauseof diode 228. With node S high, node T cannot be higher than one diodedrop above ground, approximately 0.7 volts, so that in this caseassuming V_(CC) of +5 volts, approximately 4 volts will be developedacross the capacitor 234. Then when node S is driven low to 0.7 volts,down to the pedestal level (node W), node T will be pushed by thecapacitor 234 below ground to approximately -3 volts. Diode 226 isthereby biased to allow node U to be driven down to a negative voltage.Since the two signals coming from the inverters 230, 238 aresubstantially 180° out of phase, node V at the same time is up toapproximately 5 volts. Thus, although 4 volts were initially developedacross capacitor 234, once the cycle has been run a few times, a greatervoltage across capacitor 242 can be achieved, because, for example, thecharge from capacitor 234 has been provided to the terminal 244 ofcapacitor 242 at the same time as the terminal 240 of the capacitor 242is brought to the level of approximately V_(CC). Because of the diodedrop of diode 224, output at terminal 201 can actually reach close to-6.4 volts. Thus, the presently described charge pump circuit is capableof providing a chosen level of negative voltage generated on-chipthrough the use of low levels of power.

The timing diagram of the Schmitt trigger 202 is shown in FIG. 22. TheSchmitt trigger 202 has a first, higher trip voltage which, when reachedby the input signal to the Schmitt trigger 202, causes the output of theSchmitt trigger 202 to change from its previously low state, and a lowtrip voltage which when reached by the input signal to the Schmitttrigger 202 which causes the output of the Schmitt trigger 202 to golow. The voltage in the direction from the second trip voltage to thefirst trip voltage is actually being driven toward a first targetvoltage higher than the first trip voltage. Likewise, the voltage in thedirection from the first trip voltage to the second trip voltage isactually being driven toward a second target voltage lower than thesecond trip voltage. The present circuit provides that the differencebetween the first trip voltage and first target voltage is substantiallydirectly proportional to the difference between the second trip voltageand the second target voltage. This provides for a constant duty cycleof the oscillator portion 221 of the circuit. In fact, the differencebetween the first trip voltage and first target voltage is substantiallyequal to the difference between the second trip voltage and secondtarget voltage, resulting in a constant 50% duty cycle, that is, wherethe time between any pair of adjacent rising and falling edges of thesignal is substantially the same.

Furthermore, the difference between the first trip voltage and firsttarget voltage is substantially directly proportional to the differencebetween the first and second trip voltages, and the difference betweensecond trip voltage and second target voltage is substantially directlyproportional to the difference between the first and second tripvoltages. This results in a constant frequency, stable duty cycle. Also,the difference between the first trip voltage and first target voltageis substantially directly proportional to the difference between thesecond trip voltage and second target voltage. All of theserelationships are established, resulting in substantially stableoscillation frequencies, over relatively large variations in supplyvoltage to the circuit, process variations in fabricating the circuit,and variations in temperature.

The circuit is with advantage contained in a single integrated form.

The circuits described herein have been shown as implemented in fieldeffect transistor technology. However, it will be understood by oneskilled in the art that portions or all of such circuits may beimplemented in bipolar technology as well. In such case, onecollector/emitter may be considered the first current handling terminal,with the other collector/emitter considered the second current handlingterminal, while the base is considered the control terminal.

We claim:
 1. An input level shifter circuit having a shifter inputsignal lead for receiving an input signal, a shifter output signal leadfor providing an output signal, a first voltage supply terminal, and asecond voltage supply terminal, comprising:first and second transistors;said first transistor having a first current handling terminal connectedto the first voltage supply terminal, a control terminal, and a secondcurrent handling terminal; said second transistor having a first currenthandling terminal connected to the second current handling terminal ofthe first transistor, a control terminal, and a second current handlingterminal connected to the second voltage supply terminal; the shifteroutput signal lead being connected to the first current handlingterminal of the second transistor; the shifter input signal lead beingconnected to the control terminal of the first transistor through adiode reverse biased in the direction of the input signal from theshifter input signal lead to the control termimal of the firsttransistor; and load means connected to the first voltage supplyterminal and the control terminal of the first transistor.
 2. Thestructure of claim 1, wherein the second voltage supply terminal is aground voltage supply terminal.
 3. The structure of claim 1, and furthercomprising load means connected between the control terminal of thefirst transistor and the diode.
 4. The structure of claim 1, and furthercomprising load means connected between the second current handlingterminal of the first transistor and the first current handling terminalof the second transistor.
 5. The structure of claim 4, wherein the loadmeans connected between the second current handling terminal of thefirst transistor and the first current handling terminal of the secondtransistor comprise at least one diode forward biased in the directionfrom the first voltage supply terminal to the second voltage supplyterminal.
 6. The structure of claim 5, wherein the load means connectedbetween the second current handling terminal of the first transistor andthe first current handling terminal of the second transistor comprise aplurality of diodes forward biased in the direction from the firstvoltage supply terminal to the second voltage supply terminal.
 7. Thestructure of claim 1 and further comprising a logic circuit having alogic circuit input signal lead connected to the shifter output signallead, and a logic circuit output signal lead for providing a logiccircuit output signal, said logic circuit comprising:third, fourth andfifth transistors; said third transistor having a first current handlingterminal connected to the first voltage supply terminal, a controlterminal, and a second current handling terminal connected to the secondvoltage supply terminal; said fourth transistor having a first currenthandling terminal connected to said first voltage supply terminal, acontrol terminal connected to the first current handling terminal of thethird transistor, and a second current handling terminal; said fifthtransistor having a first current handling terminal connected to thesecond current handling terminal of the fourth transistor, a controlterminal, and a second current handling terminal connected to the secondvoltage supply terminal; the control terminals of the third and fifthtransistors being connected to the logic circuit input signal lead; thelogic circuit output signal lead being connected to the first currenthandling terminal of the fifth transistor.
 8. The structure of claim 7and further comprising load means connected between the respectivesecond current handling terminals of the third and fifth transistors,and the second voltage supply terminal.
 9. The structure as in claim 8wherein the load means is a diode forward biased in the direction fromthe first voltage supply terminal to the second voltage supply terminal.10. The structure of claim 1 and further comprising a logic circuithaving a logic circuit input signal lead connected to the shifter outputsignal lead, and a logic circuit output signal lead for providing alogic circuit output signal, said logic circuit comprising:third, fourthand fifth transistors; said third transistor having a first currenthandling terminal connected to the first voltage supply terminal, acontrol terminal, and a second current handling terminal connected tothe second voltage supply terminal; said fourth transistor having afirst current handling terminal connected to said first voltage supplyterminal, a control terminal connected to the first current handlingterminal of the third transistor, and a second current handlingterminal; said fifth transistor having a first current handling terminalconnected to the second current handling terminal of the fourthtransistor, a control terminal connected to the second current handlingterminal of the third transistor, and a second current handling terminalconnected to the second voltage supply terminal; the control terminal ofthe third transistor being connected to the logic circuit input signallead; the logic circuit output signal lead being connected to the firstcurrent handling terminal of the fifth transistor.
 11. The structure ofclaim 10 and further including load means connected between (i) theconnection of the control terminal of the fifth transistor and thesecond current handling terminal of the third transistor, and (ii) thesecond voltage supply terminal.
 12. The structure of claim 10 whereinthe load means comprises a diode forward biased in the direction fromthe first voltage supply terminal to the second voltage supply terminal.